Pune court grants bail to Rahul Gandhi in defamation case linked to Savarkar remarks

Pune court grants bail to Rahul Gandhi in defamation case linked to Savarkar remarks

Pune court grants bail to Rahul Gandhi in defamation case linked to Savarkar remarks ByHT News Desk Jan 10, 2025 07:00 PM IST Share Via Copy Link The complaint stemmed from a speech Rahul Gandhi gave in London in March 2023, where he made certain remarks on Savarkar, citing a book written by him

A special Pune court on Friday granted bail to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case related to his alleged objectionable remarks on Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, PTI reported.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.(Reuters file photo)

The MP/MLA court granted bail to Gandhi on a surety bond of ₹25,000 after he appeared before it through video conferencing. Senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi stood as surety before the court.

Advocate Milind Pawar, representing Gandhi, said the court also granted a permanent exemption to the Congress leader from appearing before it.

The matter will now be heard on February 18, Pawar added. The case was filed on a complaint of the grandnephew of Savarkar.

The complaint stemmed from a speech Gandhi gave in London in March 2023, where he made certain remarks on Savarkar, citing a book written by him.

Satyaki Savarkar had filed a complaint in a Pune court claiming Gandhi, in his speech in London in March 2023, stated that Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy. As per the petition, Savarkar has not written this anywhere.

During his speech in the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament last year, Rahul Gandhi invoked Savarkar to attack the BJP.

"I want to start my speech by quoting your supreme leader Savarkar and his ideas on the Constitution of India and how he thought India should be run. He says, 'The worst thing about the Constitution of India is that there is nothing Indian about it. Manusmriti is that scripture that is most worshippable after the Vedas, and which, from ancient times, had begun the basis of our culture, customs, thought, and practice. This book for centuries has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Today, Manusmriti is law'," PTI quoted Gandhi as saying in the House.